esent a fine contrast in color. Even the untrained eye
can see a decided difference between the bluish white color of the
brilliant Sirius, the Dog star that the Belt stars point south to, and
Rigel, and the ruddy Betelgeuze. Procyon has a yellowish tinge and
resembles the condition of our sun, while Betelgeuze is surrounded by
heavy metallic vapors and is thought to be approaching extinction.

R marks the location of "Hind's crimson star," a famous variable.

[Illustration: LEPUS]

COLUMBA NOACHI (co-lum'-b[:a] n[=o]-[:a]'-ki)--NOAH'S DOVE. (Face South.)

LOCATION.--Columba is situated just south of Lepus. A line drawn from
Rigel, in Orion, to [b] Leporis, and prolonged as far again, ends near
[a] and [b], the two brightest stars in Columba.

A line drawn from the easternmost star in the belt of Orion, 32[deg]
directly south, will point out Phaet, in Columba. It makes with
Sirius, in Canis Major, and Naos, in the Ship, a large equilateral
triangle.

The star [b] Columbae may be known by means of a smaller star just east
of it, marked [g].

The Chinese call [a] Chang Jin, the old Folks. Lockyer thinks it was
of importance in Egyptian temple worship, and observed from Edfu and
Philae as far back as 6400 B.C.

On a clear starlight night there are not more than a thousand stars
visible to the naked eye at one time. The largest telescope reveals
nearly a hundred million.

[Illustration: COLUMBA]

CANIS MAJOR (k[=a]'-nis m[=a]-jor)--THE GREATER DOG. (Face South.)

LOCATION.--The three stars in Orion's girdle point southeast to
Sirius, the dog star, in Canis Major, the most brilliant star in the
heavens. It was connected in the minds of the Egyptians with the
rising of the Nile, and is receding from the earth at the rate of
twenty miles a second.

The star [n] is a triple. The cluster (41 M.) can be seen with an
opera-glass, just below it.

Between [d] and [o]^1 note a remarkable array of minute stars, also the
very red star 22.

[d] and [z] are doubles for an opera-glass.

Below [[^e]] there is a fine group.

Betelgeuze, in Orion, Procyon, in Canis Minor, and Sirius form a
nearly equilateral triangle. These stars with Naos, in the Ship, and
Phaet, in the Dove, form a huge figure known as the Egyptian "X."

From earliest times Sirius has been known as the Dog of Orion. It is
324 times brighter than the average sixth-magnitude star, and is the
nearest to the earth of all the stars in this